Join our berry pie contest!

This oh-so-delicious part of the Li-Berry Music Festival celebrates the annual berry bounty to be found in the Alaskan Interior. Test your pie-making skills to the sound of great music! For more information, contact Melinda Harris at 455-4359 or 378-6744.

Note that there are three judges. Judie Gumm and David Guttenberg have accepted their nominations to the culinary judiciary. One judicial position is up for auction, so arrive early if you would like to be in the enviable position of pie-taster! Bidding for this seat begins at 2:45 pm.

Many local businesses have donated prizes for the Throwdown. These include:

• Pie Baker's gift basket from Joan at Country Kitchen
• Rare Siberian early purple sweet pepper plant, variety Sirenevyi, from Kurt Wold of Pingo Farms
• certificate for a bouquet from Calypso Farm & Ecology Center
• Pie cookbook Tarts with Tops On from David at Gulliver's Books
• Baker's apron by Donna Olesen, from Sheri at Chartreuse Fairbanks
• 1lb Peaberry Coffee & 1lb French Roast Coffee from Bill at McCafferty's
• $20 gift card from Michael at Alaska Coffee Roasting Company

Rules:

1. Pies must include berries, and be home-made (no store-bought!) Berries may be those traditionally thought of as berries or any by the strict botanical definition (such as tomatoes, squash, bananas, citruses, or watermelons). Savory or sweet pies accepted.

2. $2 entry fee per pie. Multiple pie submissions by the same cook are perfectly fine.

3. Judges may be bribeable, but no guarantees. Cash bribes will be donated to the library (but you earn brownie points for those! make sure you enter the amount of your bribe on the entry slip so the judges know just how many brownie points to give you).

4. Bring pies to the Golden Eagle Saloon between 2 and 3 pm and register your entry. Judging begins at 3:01 sharp. Awards are presented after 4 pm.

5. Award categories will be determined by the judges at the time of the contest. Winners will be announced at the music festival, and fabulous prizes (of course) awarded.

6. Leftover slices will be offered up to the audience for donation. Pies may be presented for auction.

Pie entries in the 2009 contest, held at the Golden Eagle Saloon. Photo by Greta Burkart.

2009 pie contest results

2007 pie contest results

Participants are requested to provide their recipes for the Throwdown Recipes book to raise funds for the library at a future date. Please! The previous years' pies were so good there were only crumbs left when the crowd got through with them.

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